Comfort

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Tory opened the door, not surprised to find Kreese. He was standing with his arms crossed. 

" Nichols." He greeted.

" Sensei Kreese." She said, opening the door. 

" Mr. Keene came and gave me a visit." He said, quietly. " Said you weren't...feeling too well."

Tory looked away. " Yeah. That pretty much sums it up."

" I expect to see you at practice tomorrow. And what he did... if you continue to be in contact with him, you and I will have problems."

" I didn't ask him to-"

" But he did, didn't he. He did even if you didn't ask him to. And the problem at hand appears to be the actions of our fellow young man." 

" He keeps coming to me. What do you want me to do? Put away the welcome mat?" 

" As long as he stays away. We can't have any distractions. He is the reason why we have lost Kwon." 

Tory was at a loss of words at that. Kwon. He brought up a lot of emotions. The main one was irritation. If it weren't for him things could have been different. But he was gone. He was lost to the other side. A part of her never liked him, but the other part? Would she have accepted him?  What if-

" No more distractions." 

" But I-"

" Do I make myself clear?" He asked, interrupting her train of thought. 

It was silent for a good minute.

" Yes sensei." She finally said.

" That's what I thought. Stay away from him. He's not good for you." Kreese said, before leaving her to contemplate. 

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" Tory Nichols admits to not feeling well? That's  a first." Miguel said, as he watched Robby train with Sam. The others weren't needed unless the rules of the tournament were changing. 

" She had a fever. When I left she seemed less warm, but still..." He blocked Sam's punch, and tried to pin her down. She was faster. 

" Do you think she would object if I went? To see her?" Sam asked, going for Robby's head. He dodged her, and made his way around her. They were both breathing heavily. 

" No." Robby replied, thinking. " She would probably be pissed, but no." 

" She's asleep though. Would she really know?" Sam asked. 

" I mean... I guess not. I stole her key so we would just have to return it. No evidence, no harm." Robby replied. 

" No. I want to talk to her. A little girl talk, you know?" She said, avoiding Robby's gaze.

It returned back to silence, Miguel watching the two of the spar. The only sound heard was their breathing. After a few minutes, Robby said,

" Yeah. Girl talk. Could I stay though? Just in case?"

" Of course." Sam replied quickly, smiling slightly. 

Robby nodded. 

" Want to join us Miguel?" He asked.

Miguel shook his head. " I'll let you guys have a little time. That's all she needs really. Time. We shouldn't rush her. She needs time to grieve and-"

" But how much time?" Robby asked. " How much is too much? And what about too little? We need to talk to her to figure out if it's too much or too littl-"

" I think you're thinking about it too hard." Miguel cut in. 

Robby sighed. " I know. I'm just worried for her. She isn't doing well. I don't want to lose her. Her mental health keeps...plummeting." He said, struggling to find the words for it. " She needs help. And if I'm not there to support her, I'm afraid she'll find comfort in Kreese or someone else. Someone who won't help her the way she needs help." 

That left the other's speechless. They finished training a few minutes later, in silence. 

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Robby and Sam made it to Tory's room around 6. Sam was slightly hesitant at the door, but followed Robby in when he opened the door. He set the key on the table by the entrance. Tory was still asleep. Her hair was slightly spread out, her arms near her sides, her breathing deep. 

When Robby saw her he couldn't help but smile. She looked so peaceful. But then he remembered what had happened the night before, and the smile left his lips.

" Is she doing okay?" Sam whispered. 

" Her fever is gone." He said, with his hand lightly on her forehead. She barely moved at his touch. 

" She had a fever?"

" Yeah." 

Tory must have heard that because she stirred slightly. She moved, and pulled Robby's hand closer towards her. Then something clicked in her mind, and she let go of Robby's hand and sat up immediately. 

" Sorry. I didn't mean to... I didn't kno-"

" No. It's fine." Robby said. " We just wanted to make sure you were better." He said, letting her know they weren't alone. She took the hint and her eyes wandered to Sam.

" Hey." Sam said nervously. 

" Hi." Tory replied. 

" You feeling better?" She asked, still standing by the doorway .

" Mmhm." She replied. 

Sam nodded. Tory looked down, slightly embarrassed. " Don't fuss over me. I'm fine.  I usually get better quickly." 

" Do you need anything?" Sam asked, slightly concerned.

Tory shook her head. 

" So how you doing?" She asked Tory, sitting on the edge of her bed. 

" I'm fine." Tory replied. Sam nodded. Robby sat on the other side of the bed, both of them leaving space for Tory. 

" So the tournament huh?" Sam asked, with a slight chuckle.

" I know." Tory replied. 

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NOTE : Sorry for not updating. Been busy with the holidays. But will try to update daily again. :-)

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